Off-Grid Solar Design, Education and Advice

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July 27, 2026 12:47 pm

New improvements to my setup, I've been keeping busy... Somebody gifted me with two PC computers. I grabbed up the first Windows computer and immediately installed Linux (Debian) and put it in the so... View MoreNew improvements to my setup, I've been keeping busy... Somebody gifted me with two PC computers. I grabbed up the first Windows computer and immediately installed Linux (Debian) and put it in the solar shed without a monitor/keyboard/mouse but with a power cord and ethernet cable. On idle it only uses a scant 30W of power. * Since it's a small Dell computer I named it "delaware" for short. I began moving all my cool python scripts over to Delaware from my MacBook. A number of things had to be adjusted on the new system, the newer versions of python and modules, etc. I spent a good week trying to port things over to Debian. * Next, I've endured a programmatic outage for three of my TP-Link style of smart power plugs. It's been this way for a year now as the author of the python code tried to keep up with firmware authentication changes on these TAPO TP15 smart plugs. But I *just* managed to work around that limitation yesterday and those plugs can now be turned ON/OFF with code. This includes the grow light for my indoor basil, the fan in the solar shed and the pump which filters water into my holding tank. I consider each of these to be optional activities which could/should be powered when good solar is available and off when it's a cloudy day or at night. This is now a game-changer for managing my solar overages and preventing low voltage situations on my battery bank. I was nice enough to go out there into the open source software world and educate the code authors to my work-arounds since there are hundreds of other geeks similarly affected. * Next, I need to build the equivalent of a sending unit (level sensor) for the holding tank and make that available to, say, the Raspberry Pi computer in the solar shed that's running Victron's VenusOS as part of this system. There are different ways to accomplish this but I see that as necessary to avoid over-filling the tank and to know when filtering/filling activities need to occur. * A nice option would be to add something to keep the water clear in the holding tank. Adding chlorine is what most people would do. I've taken care of most of the problem by burying the tank so that only the top is exposed where the lid is and by filtering the water before it goes in. Doing a little research I know that either silver or copper ions will naturally keep the water clear of mold & bacteria. I intend to add a feature to the sending unit assembly which will sometimes stir the water with something made of copper or silver to create those charged metal ions. The Raspberry Pi will need to schedule the motor for that to run based upon the availability of waste power in the middle of the day. * Running the transfer pump for water inside the house was being controlled by one of those TP-Link smart plugs outside. (In reality, though, after washing my hands I didn't want to use my wet finger to toggle the pump back off using my phone app.) I decided that it would be better to convert that control to something more old school with a switch on the wall in the bathroom and kitchen. Later, I'll add a proper electrical line outside and wire it up to a pair of three-way electrical switches. For now, it's powered ON/OFF from the switch on an AC powerstrip and an extension cord in between. * Somebody needing gas money sold me an unused Renogy solar kit. I installed those panels to face the evening sun, bought another Victron charge controller and added that to my system. So I now get a small extra amount of power in the evening so that I can run my fan in the loft in the summer. * I traded labor for a small set of unused Renogy solar panels. My solar shed's temperature inside was getting up to 104ºF this summer so I thought I'd better do something about that. I installed four of the Renogy panels on the morning side of the roof of the shed, sent the power to a small WindyNation-branded charge controller inside with a single lead-acid battery. I bought a computer fan in town and wired that directly to the output DC side of that controller. The fan then pushes hot air out of the top vent holes of the shed and lowers the temperature inside by about ten degrees. Since I have several spare batteries it's convenient to cycle them into service on that system to keep their voltages topped up. * The other fan mentioned above points directly at the wi-fi router to cool it. It's scheduled to run in the hottest times of the day using a TP-Link smart plug. Now that this plug can be programmatically controlled I will make that activity smarter by only running it when the shed is over eighty degrees, for example. -------------- Hopefully that wasn't too much to read. It will give you an idea what I do as a hobby to keep my mind active.

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Donna Davis

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1 July 27, 2026

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